Crowds are the Loneliest Places
by Purplerose128
Summary: Popular/Loner AU (PLAU). For his whole life, Jackson Overland has been cursed with a lonely lifestyle and, as a result, social anxiety that keeps him locked within his world of solitude. It' only threatened to be broken when Hiccup Haddock, a teen in Jack's class with an army of friends, tries to befriend him and show him a way into the world he had never been exposed to.


**Hello, everybody! ****So, this is me posting one of the things I had on my Tumblr account for a while here to see how much people like it... cause I get almost nothing when it comes to Tumblr feedback so... to the fanfiction sites~!**

**This is another Hijack fic of mine based on a suggestion from Tumblr user lap1sinth3sky awhile back. They wanted an AU that they called the Popular/Loner AU (or PLAU for short) and I liked the idea so much that I wrote a thing for it. I've been thinking about continuing it and I decided that I would if I see if people actually like this before I invested my time into more of it.**

**So... leave me a review or follow/favorite the story if you're interested and hopefully I'll update the story when I have some free time because school and writing two other fanfictions right now.**

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Jackson Overland could only describe his childhood in one word: lonely.

His parents passed on when he and his sister were very young; before she could even crawl. Jack never learned exactly how they lost their parents. It was probably because of how young he was at the time. People tended to feel awful for making a kid cry, even if it meant telling them the truth. So all he was ever told was "it was just an accident." He and Emma were put in the foster system not very long after that, as no one could track down any family to dump the two children with. Luckily, they weren't separated right away. So Jack got to watch little Emma learn to crawl and walk. He even got to hear her try to say his name. It sounded like "ack" coming out of her mouth, but he heard it nonetheless.

If only he knew then that the first time he'd hear her say his name would be the last as well. After a year of being in the same foster home, the Overland siblings were separated. Emma had found a new family and was taken away from her older brother forever. Jack was six years old then, the last time he ever saw his baby sister. He watched the car from the window until it vanished around a corner, never to be seen by the young brunet again.

Looking back, Jack's happy that his sister found a new family. But his younger self was much more concerned with her being taken from him. And he relates to that. Emma was his only family then. And she was taken just like that… without him to look after her. He couldn't even keep that promise…

Another year of being moved from home to home every few months passed after that. People came and went in Jack's life too quickly for any kind of bond to form. He counted the fosters he lived with by a tally he carved into the only object that linked him to his former life. A small wooden box with a snowflake crudely painted in the lid. He made it with his mother when he was three. It was supposed to hold his baby teeth when they started falling out, so that the tooth fairy could leave him presents in exchange. But all it wound up holding was scars on its bottom. Scars that held hollow promises and nothing more.

Eight homes came and went within two years, taking little Jackson from city to city. Just when he had finally settled into his new home and new routine, he'd have to pack up and move on again. Eight new schools waved hello and good-bye to the young brunet. And with each one, his blue eyes grew darker, hollower, as part of him was once again left behind. That's what happened every time he found something to like in a new place. He wanted to stay when he knew very well that his life would never be permanent.

The ray of sunshine that came knocking one day came in the form of a man who the seven-year-old could swear was Santa. His graying beard met the middle of his chest and his big red coat made him think of the hero who gave him the toy he wanted every year.

The cheery man with red cheeks hardily laughed as he knelt down to the small boy's level, a big smile on his face "Hello, Jack." He greeted "My name is Nicolas North. I'm here to take you home."

At first, Jack thought that this was just another foster parent taking him on. But it was actually a man who wanted to adopt him! Finally, Jack wouldn't have to move around so much! He could go to the same school for a whole year and make friends and everything! In that moment, as he walked into his new bedroom with his little box of belongings, he thought that he would finally be able to have a normal life, like every other kid in school had.

It took Jack some time to settle into living with North, as he liked to call his adoptive father, but he eventually became accustomed to living with the jolly man. He was there every morning, making Jack breakfast and getting his lunchbox ready before dropping the young boy off at school and heading to work himself. He almost forgot what it was like to be around someone who actually wanted and cared about him. Sure, the foster homes kept him alive. But the thing that they lacked the most was love. And North was slowly making up for that.

Though, Jack soon learned that even this life wasn't entirely perfect. He quickly discovered that he was one of the only kids in his entire neighborhood; the only other one was a girl who lived a few houses down. Her name was Anna. She had dark brown hair, eyes that were so deep a blue they looked purple sometimes, and she_ loved_ colors. That was the first thing Jack learned about her. Anna and her mother came to the door one day during Jack's first summer living with North, asking if he wanted to come out and play. When he saw the shorter girl, she was wearing a bright green dress that slowly became blue at the bottom of it. And no sooner did the two of them start drawing on her driveway with a bucket of chalk did it turn into the whole rainbow, as did the asphalt.

The brunet never really liked girls before meeting her. She wasn't gross like all of the ones he'd met before. Anna was nice and fun to play with; and she wasn't afraid of getting dirty either. Jack was convinced that he lucked out in meeting the one girl on Earth who didn't have cooties, so he kept her as a friend.

And, awhile later, he learned that the colorful girl had a baby sister of her own. She had the same hair and eyes as Anna, except one of her blue eyes was a lot lighter than the other one. They looked like the shallow and deep parts of the ocean to the boy. And, really, he became attached to Faye very quickly. She reminded him of Emma just a little bit, because she liked it when he blew raspberries on her belly like he used to do to Emma. The two girls slowly became his sisters, in his mind. They didn't replace Emma or anything… but that's how he started to see them.

The problem was, aside from Anna, none of the kids at Jack's newest school seemed to want to talk to him. Maybe it was because he liked to hang out with a girl at recess or something? Or because no one had seen him before? He couldn't quite place exactly what he was doing wrong. I mean, Anna liked him. If she could, why couldn't anyone else?

It was rare that he would be invited to birthday parties, or on play dates with other kids at school. It was only when Anna asked if he could come or when the kids' parents insisted on inviting the whole class because it was fair. Jack loved each time that he was invited somewhere and he always went to the party, always gave a present and said "happy birthday." But still, his interaction with other kids was rare in itself. Was it just because he was new or something? He didn't get it!

And when school wasn't in session was when his isolation became much worse. Anna, Faye, and their parents left for most of the summer to visit her mom's family, who lived somewhere called Punjam Hy Loo, which was halfway around the world. That left the brunet to his own devices when it came to entertaining himself in the warmer months. He had the house to himself almost every day, with North still going to work, so all he really had was the TV and whatever games he could find or make up that he could play by himself. His summers were filled with playing pretend, slaying dragons and freezing his enemies solid on the hotter days. That usually resulted in him sticking his action figures in the freezer or something like that but, hey, it passed the time.

Years came and went and soon Jack's colorful best friend started to grow. She came back the summer before middle school started a few inches taller than the boy, a small curve to her body, and lumps forming on her chest. She started to look more like her mom, Jack supposed. But it was still weird for him. At least Faye was still shorter than him. Then again, she was only five when her older friends started sixth grade.

Middle school was most of the same routine. Just skidding from grade to grade by the skin on his nose and going generally unnoticed by his peers. Though, this time around, flaring hormones and awkward health classes got thrown into the mix. The girls started rolling up their skirts and all of the other boys chased after them the moment that started. But Jack… he wasn't really interested. He didn't care about girls, especially since none of them noticed him anyway.

This point in Jack's life was watching boys in his class get bigger and taller while he stayed the same. He listened to voices deepen and body hair sprouting in the locker room, while he did nothing more than squeak and grow some peach fuzz, if anything. It was Jack becoming even more invisible to his peers as they all oversaw him… literally. It was learning that being a late bloomer was both a blessing and a curse. It enabled him to hide from his larger classmates yet it was also another reason for them to taunt him.

Middle school was simple confirmation of Jack's life of solitude. The cell phone North bought him for his twelfth birthday only rang when Anna wanted to call or text him; or when North called to check in on him during the day and Jack was just too lazy to get up and answer the home phone. It only had two contacts: Anna and North.

A lonely life was all that Jack had ever known. And he forced it into being the place he was most comfortable in. Isolation became his happy place. It became his whole world. Empty weekends, restful breaks, and countless TV shows filled Jack's free time. Hours of video games, comic books, and movies occupied the brunet whenever he and Anna couldn't get together, which had been happening more and more since she'd gotten a whole bunch of new, better friends. At least, that's how Jack saw it.

When high school came, Jack was determined to make a change somehow. This new school would know who he was, one way or another. He wouldn't just be another body in a classroom; he'd be something that people looked twice at when he walked down the halls. And this change came in the form of a bottle of hair dye. His chocolate brown locks became a stark white in the summer before his freshmen year. He looked in the mirror after it was done and he knew that this was the change that he desperately needed.

High school would be different. He knew it.

And that's exactly what the first day of freshmen year was. Different. Jack got the exact reaction that he wanted from his new hair. All the way down to his new locker and into his homeroom, eyes were plastered to the tall boy and his white hair. He heard whispers as he passed groups of people and he couldn't help but smile.

_Finally. _He beamed _They see me. They see me!_

Jack took a seat in his homeroom and continued to enjoy the quick double-takes that people would direct his way. Kids began to sit in the seats around him and he became even more excited. Maybe his future friends were taking those very seats! All he had to do was start talking to them!

"Hey, there." Jack looked around until he found the source, a girl with silky black hair tied back in a braid who was sitting next to him. She had a genuine smile as she gazed back at him "I like your hair; it looks really cool."

"Yeah, uh…" Jack looked at her and his mouth stopped moving. His brain blanked and, in that one second, all his mouth did was hang open before he snapped it shut. _Say something… just say something, man! She's looking at you like a freak; say something before they stop talking to you! _"Thanks, I uh… I-I dyed it myself… over the summer."

She smiled and nodded "You must be pretty patient to get it that color. I mean, unless you're blond under that."

"My hair's brown so uh…" He stammered "I guess I have a lot of time on my hands."

The girl giggled "I'm Heather."

She looked at him expectantly and it took Jack a minute to realize what it was he was supposed to say at that "I'm Jack."

"Nice to meet you, Jack." Heather replied.

They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment or two before Jack turned his head back to the top of his desk and decided to play with his fingers instead. Just what was he supposed to say to her? He didn't know what she was interested in or what classes she had… he didn't know anything about her. Where was he supposed to start?!

_Right, ask her, ask her. _He encouraged himself. Jack peeked back at her and went to open his mouth. But, just as he felt the words coming up his throat, the bell rang and everyone started to shuffle off to their first period class. Heather was one of the first people out the door and Jack lost her in the sea of people that soon filled the hallway.

He sighed _Way to blow that one, Jack…_

His first few weeks of freshmen year were filled with Jack fumbling for words and doing his best not to embarrass himself during awkward ice-breakers that his teachers were having his classes do. He managed to strike up a few conversations with people but they never lasted very long. He didn't know what to talk about with any of them and it was really starting to get frustrating. Why was it so hard to just talk to people that he didn't know? He was just fine when he talked to North and other people that he'd known for awhile now. Why couldn't he just be himself like that with these people?!

His first major breakthrough was when he made an unexpected friend in the library one morning. Jack was printing out an assignment before homeroom when he caught a sight that he would know anywhere. A skinny boy with light blond hair and pale green eyes walked past him. But what caught Jack's attention wasn't his appearance but what he was wearing. This kid had on a Kingdom Hearts wristband AND a Keyblade necklace! Finally, he found something that he could get to know someone over!

"H-hey." He called. The boy turned around and stared at Jack blankly "Is that Kingdom Hearts?" The boy nodded, a small smile forming on his face "You heard the rumor about a new game coming out?" He nodded again, his smile growing.

The two boys spent the next ten minutes making little exchanges about the video game series and learned that they had a few other things in common too. This blond boy was a little shy and he didn't like to talk too much, answering Jack with as few words as possible each time his answer was more elaborate than a yes or no. He also had a laugh that was enchanting, in a way. It was deep and, for some reason, it made Jack smile and chuckle with him. It was almost like it was contagious.

It was only when the white-haired teen glanced up at the clock did he break up the conversation "Crap, homeroom's gonna start soon." He nervously looked between the other boy and the door "Uh… see you later." Jack started to speed walk back into the halls before he remembered something that was kind of important and turned back around "Oh, uh, I'm Jack, by the way."

"I'm Lior." The boy answered. Jack raised an eyebrow at the name. He'd never heard that one before. Lior continued "My dad says that, when I was born, his life got brighter. It means 'my light.'"

Jack nodded. The five minute warning bell rang "We'd uh, better get to homeroom."

Lior nodded and the two walked down the hall together, parting ways to go to their respective homerooms.

After that chance meeting, the two boys became hard to separate. It turned out they had a lot of the same classes together, so they sat with one another whenever they got the chance. It was just weird how Jack only noticed how often he'd seen Lior after they became friends. They had the same classes for weeks; how had he not seen the kid before? It was probably because the blond sat in the back a lot and the brunet tended to just keep to himself. But now the boy was like a breath of fresh air. He finally found somebody that he could manage to get all of his words out to, that he could talk to about the things that he enjoyed and knew about without worrying about what the other teen would think. Having Lior around… it was nice.

The two spent all of freshmen year together, practically joined at the hip and always smiling. It had been forever since Jack had a friend over his house or to go out and see a movie with. And, really, he forgot how much he wanted to do these things with people.

Freshmen year was creeping out of that shell that he'd put himself in, even if it was just a little bit. He'd made one real friend that year and that was all that he wanted, when it got down to it. All Jack wanted was for someone new to see him and he'd accomplished that much.

Sophomore year, though, was when his life became more difficult. And that was because that was the year that another person had caught his eye.

Jack saw him a few tables away from himself and Lior during lunch on the first week of school. Bright green eyes underneath auburn bangs and black frames. Freckles scattered about the boy's face and arms and his smile, though a little crooked, was hypnotizing. He was laughing along with a group of people that he was sitting with, mostly boys and two girls. And, as the line to buy lunch died down, the whole table was soon filled with smiles and laughter. Wow… that guy sure had a lot of friends.

Lior caught Jack staring and snapped until his friend finally regained focus on planet Earth. Jack turned his attention back to the other boy, who was giving him a quizzical look as if to say "Dude, what the hell was that?"

"Who's that?" He wondered.

Lior shrugged "His name's Hiccup, I think. He's in my history class."

"Hiccup…" Jack lowly repeated.

"He's single, ya know." The blond added. Jack's face turned bright red and he glared at his friend "What, you thought I didn't catch on by now?"

Jack sighed "Fine, you caught me." Lior jerked his thumb in the brunet's direction "What?"

Green eyes rolled "Go talk to him, you moron."

"Are you crazy?!" Jack hissed "I can't make a coherent sentence to anyone but you."

"I've noticed." Lior deadpanned "That's why you need practice."

"Why does my practice have to be on him though?" The taller boy complained.

The shorter groaned and let his forehead meet the tabletop "Just go."

Jack looked from the other table back to Lior and gulped. He just couldn't go over there, could he? What would he even say to the guy once he got over there? Knowing him, he'd just clam up and say something stupid just so that he wouldn't be given looks for not talking. Ugh, this was a two way street and neither one was a good path to take!

Jack's head met the table too. Why was it so hard to talk to people, why? Why was he cursed with these awful social skills?

He felt a weak punch on his shoulder and he sat up again, finding Lior had done the same.

"You're hopeless, Jack."

"I know…


End file.
